Founding pastor retires after more than 25 years

Grace Community Church founding pastor retires from the pulpit after more than 25 years, but will remain active in the church.

Christina McCune IndeOnline.com staff writer @cmccuneINDE

One could sit comfortably and listen to Pastor Michael Bragg for hours. His soothing calming voice is like a pat of butter melting over a warm homemade biscuit on a Sunday morning. And he has just enough of a smooth Southern accent to create a lilting musicality in his tone.

But when he gets behind a pulpit, he may leave a few people squirming in their seats.

"He preached a message and spoke the truth out of the Bible," said Joe Wilson of Massillon, a longtime church member and chairman of the trustee committee. "He didn't flower it up any. He was an absolutely marvelous preacher. It's been an absolute honor to serve with him and to serve under his leadership."

The founding pastor of Grace Community Church is retiring after more than 25 years. But church members are comforted by his decision to continue to stay active in the church, teaching the adult ministry, and he may have to fill in from time to time for newly installed senior pastor James Lee.

"I'm retiring from the pulpit, but I'm not retiring from the ministry," Bragg said. "My wife and I are very blessed and humbled to have been a part of this church for all these years."

Bragg said Lee will have a new vision for the church and a commitment to the younger generation, but will make sure the principle of God's word will not be compromised.

Lee was installed officially Sunday morning as the church's new senior pastor.

"That's kind of amazing," Lee said about being only the second pastor in the church's history.

Not only does he plan to get young families and children more involved in the church, but the church may be filled with a bit more music as well. Lee and his wife, Michelle, live in Alliance, and Lee previously was pastor at Church of Faith in Salesville. This congregation is a little bit larger than his church in Salesville.

"We always like to have music a part of our ministry," Lee said. "She (Michelle) sings with me from time to time. I sing and play the guitar. They have quite a bit of talent in the church. We may be plugging some more music in and trying to keep reaching some young families and children."

BUILT ON FAITH

The building at 1700 Hankins Road NE has been a permanent home for the congregation for more than 10 years. Bragg and a group of at least 40 people started worshipping in a banquet room at a former hotel along Lincoln Way. They moved to two other locations before securing land along Hankins Road. After much praying and fundraising, they were able to construct the building in 2002.

Bragg said the church sees about 125 members on Sundays. Unfortunately, he has officiated many funerals over the years. But he said 15 or 20 charter members still remain in the church.

"We've all grown old together," he said.

The 71-year-old grew up in Tennessee. Interestingly, Bragg said he started hearing about Massillon Tigers football back when he was a defensive lineback in high school. He said his coach used to tell his team: "I'm going to make you like the Massillon Tigers up there in Ohio." Bragg has been a Massillon Tigers season ticket holder for years.

Bragg met his wife at Tennessee Temple University. He and Jeanann Bragg are going on 50 years of marriage. He was an assistant pastor and Christian school headmaster in Alabama. Before moving to Massillon, he also was an assistant pastor and then pastor, as well as school headmaster in Greenville, N.C.

"A group of people wanted to start a church, and we prayed about it," he said. "We felt like it was time to move on. The Lord prepared us for this."

'BLESSED TIME'

When Bragg announced his retirement, church members were shocked, but they went about the task seriously to choose a new pastor, Wilson said.

"We looked all over the country," Bragg said. "We posted the position and what we were looking for. We received literally hundreds of resumes from as far away as the Philippines."

For the past few months, Andre Bernier, meteorologist on Fox 8 News who happened to be ordained at Grace Community Church several years ago, has been an interim pastor. He has helped get the church ready and make the transition a smooth one, Bragg said.

"Andre Bernier has been a huge blessing," Lee agreed. "Building the bridge between both pastors. He's done a phenomenal job with his efforts and teaching and educating people. We really felt God meant for all of this to take place. Michelle and I are looking forward to getting to know people and getting to know the area and being more familiar with the church and people's lives."

Lee was asked to speak one Sunday and did the sermon. The church voted almost unanimously to make Lee the new pastor. He received a 98 percent "yes" vote.

"Which is absolutely almost unheard of when you bring a new pastor in," Wilson said. "It's been a learning experience for us. It's been a blessed time."

Lee said following in Bragg's footsteps adds some pressure to the position, but he said he feels God is guiding him.

"We started believing God had his hand in all of this," he said. "Things have really really shown that to be true."